article_detail

Spain’s president Pedro Sánchez has unveiled a key education reform that will set limits on the number of teaching hours for primary and secondary school teachers. The announcement came during a visit to a nursery school in Getafe (Madrid) and aims to ease the workload for teachers who have long faced heavy classroom and bureaucratic demands.

 

Under the proposed law, which Sánchez confirmed will be introduced as a draft bill next Wednesday, primary school teachers will be restricted to a maximum of 23 hours of class time per week. Secondary and high school teachers will have an 18-hour limit. “There is currently no legally mandated maximum number of hours,” Sánchez pointed out, explaining that the 2020 Lomloe education reform only recommended these limits rather than requiring them. This new legislation will make those recommendations mandatory.

 

The Prime Minister stressed that reducing teaching hours is “one of the outstanding issues” of his administration since 2018 and is part of a broader goal to lessen both teaching and bureaucratic burdens. He also expressed his commitment to further reducing the teacher-student ratio. Accompanied by Education Minister Pilar Alegría and Minister for Digital Transformation and Public Service Óscar López, Sánchez will present the draft bill to unions and autonomous communities for consultation.

 

The introduction of legally binding teaching hour limits is expected to provide teachers with improved working conditions by reducing excessive classroom time and associated paperwork. It reflects growing awareness of the need to support educators more effectively within Spain’s education system.

 

Alongside these changes, Sánchez also confirmed early childhood education from birth to three years old will be made free for vulnerable families starting September 2026, backed by a 175 million euro aid programme. However, the focus of this update remains firmly on the new law limiting teachers' classroom hours, a move set to reshape workload expectations in Spanish schools.

 

 

Image: RDNE Stock project/Pexels